My pc or TT ?

Hello,

I would like some help to see where my connection issues are.

I am with TalkTalk. I have used their support forums and they have been helpfull. But before I go back I want to check to see if I can rule out my end. The issues that I have been talking about on the support forums have been line speed issues, or not to the speed I would expect on my line stats. Currently connected at 3995 kbps with a Line Attenuation of 42.5 and a Noise Margin of 12.45, Looking at kitz speed calc the line should be syncing around 8000 kbps. They have reset the profile a few times but it usually drops back down.

I have been swapping out the two router that I have, the one TT supply and my netgear DG834G. Currently the netgear is plugged in via the master socket.

The issue that currently making the connection to be very annoying is that it seams that the connection appears to drop for up to 1 minute. When I check the router it says that it is still connected. I do play a mmo or try to and it disconnects often because of the lost connection. Also web pages time out, Spotify stops playing etc..

My PC is connected via wireless usb adapter with a fair to good signal strength. I have also used homeplugs but that does not help. But I know they are not very reliable as another appliance can interfere with them.

I did a tracert with this result and hop 2 is what shouts out. I am unsure if hop 2 is my machine to the router or the router to TT.

C:\Users\Neal>tracert bbc.co.uk

Tracing route to bbc.co.uk [212.58.241.131]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 * 1558 ms 24 ms host-92-20-224-1.as13285.net [92.20.224.1]
3 31 ms 16 ms 15 ms host-78-151-230-9.as13285.net [78.151.230.9]
4 16 ms 46 ms 18 ms host-78-151-230-4.as13285.net [78.151.230.4]
5 15 ms 16 ms 18 ms host-78-144-0-47.as13285.net [78.144.0.47]
6 17 ms 15 ms 48 ms host-78-144-1-44.as13285.net [78.144.1.44]
7 15 ms 15 ms 18 ms host-78-144-0-121.as13285.net [78.144.0.121]
8 18 ms 16 ms 17 ms bbc-pp-sov.as13285.net [78.144.5.1]
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 71 ms 29 ms 28 ms ae1.er01.rbsov.bbc.co.uk [132.185.254.46]
11 92 ms 69 ms 69 ms 132.185.255.60
12 124 ms 15 ms 38 ms 212.58.241.131

Trace complete.

Never had other appliances interfere with homeplugs, if anything a lot more reliable than wireless.

Is your noise margin varying at all? e.g. is it dropping to 2 or 3dB before the connection drops?

Have you ruled out telephone wiring in your property by testing at the test socket, i.e. take removable faceplate off your master socket to reveal the test socket.

The 8Meg sync is not being achieved because of the 12dB target margin, and if TalkTalk lowered the margin based on what you have described your connection would be even less stable.

They have lowered the profile to 9db a few times, and it does sync around 6000 kbps. But I assume it produces errors at that connection and the profile automatically changes to make the line more stable.

Router is connected to the test socket. I have switched over the filter a couple of times.

So only the one phone connected to that filter works?

No sky boxes or telephone alarms connected in the property?

Only the one phone socket in the house. No sky or alarms. An extention cable is plugged into the socket unused. But i assume it is bypassed as phone and router is plugged into the test socket.

I did a tracert with this result and hop 2 is what shouts out. I am unsure if hop 2 is my machine to the router or the router to TT.

hop two, is the first link to the isp. (hop one is your router)
just because it shows high ping responses, does not mean its not doing its job, indeed, look at the next 6 results - which are all routed by it.

I was with TT on ADSLMax and sync at 5Mb on 34db Attenuation. I often had, peak time only, similar issue where browser would spin and not connect to website. Had to back arrow browser and retry.
Found router never disconnected. However peaktime download speedtest dropped below 0.5mb sometimes.
Would not Upgrade me to ADSL2, moved to new ISP not had any problem since, sync at 12mb with no change to set up. Downloading at 10mb+
Maybe red herring, but can ISP deliberately restrict customer on Unlimited.

Edited by flippery (Thu 23-Aug-12 21:46:31)

Thanks. Can I rule out my hardware?

What tests can I do to see if the issue is to do with the ISP. I suspect not alot.

In reply to a post by flippery:

I was with TT on ADSLMax and sync at 5Mb on 34db Attenuation. I often had, peak time only, similar issue where browser would spin and not connect to website. Had to back arrow browser and retry.
Found router never disconnected. However peaktime download speedtest dropped below 0.5mb sometimes.
Would not Upgrade me to ADSL2, moved to new ISP not had any problem since, sync at 12mb with no change to set up. Downloading at 10mb+
Maybe red herring, but can ISP deliberately restrict customer on Unlimited.

The issue where the connection would "freeze" has been a recent problem. Otherwise I have been trying to improve my line speed.

I have renewed my contract recently so I don't have the option to move isp. even if I did, the hassle of getting a new line and then not having an internet connection for awhile.

Thanks. Can I rule out my hardware?

no the jitter could easily be your wifi connection to the router.